Cat of the Month - Tuga
February 2020 Update
Tuga is coming along so nicely. As you may recall, she was quite overweight to begin with, topping out at about 21 pounds. Add to that quite painful leg joints, and she was a rather uncomfortable girl. She continues to have some discomfort walking. But every morning she makes her way into the food prep room, lies down on her little rug, and waits somewhat patiently for breakfast. She does have a lot to say about all the goings on. She is quite the conversationalist. She loves to be petted and scritched. To date, she is down to about 14.5 pounds. She has a heated pet bed in her room, which she loves. And she is on various joint comfort meds. We are hoping soon to get her walking more often so that she can build her muscles back up. Tuga is back at the shelter, so please come by to visit her. She always loves visitors!
January 2020
Tuga came to us on Nov. 19, 2019. She is about 10 years old. She was surrendered because the house dogs were bothering her quite a bit. And to be quite frank, Tuga was grossly overweight. At one point, she weighed 21 pounds. That would be fine with a cat who has a sturdy and large frame. But Tuga actually has a small frame, with short legs and small feet. It is quite difficult for Tuga to walk and for her to clean herself. We had to put a plan in action. She went on diet food, she got brushed and combed every day. And she was encouraged to walk a bit each day. She would make her way to the food room from the office, and then plop down on her side. Her walking was so obviously uncomfortable with all that weight on those tiny feet, that we decided to make her a “Tuga Taxi”...a chair on wheels that we could roll her back to her home in the office. She loved the ride...and looked like a Queen, waving her paw at on-lookers.
Tuga had lots of tests done, blood work, xrays. Her blood work is good. But it turns out her knees and elbows are pretty badly damaged...and probably were before she gained all this weight. The obesity just exacerbates her pain in walking. She will always have these damaged knees and elbows...but with shots of Adequan, which are relatively inexpensive, her comfort level is much better and she walks around more.
She is now at Western Ave Vet Clinic where they are keeping a close eye on her, monitoring her weight, giving her her various meds, and getting her out to walk a bit. She is even beginning to play. Her favorite is a stick toy. In the future, they plan on doing some water PT with her.
One of the most charming things about Tuga is her gregarious nature. If a group of people are standing around talking, she waddles over to the central spot, plops down, and follows the conversation with her eyes, every now and then giving a meow and reaching out her paw. Tuga’s journey is going to be a fascinating one. We are very excited to get her in a more comfortable state and ready for her forever home. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her.
If you are interested in adopting Tuga (or any other cat at Kingdom Animal Shelter), please complete an adoption application and authorization for release of information form. Once completed, you can bring them to the Shelter during adoption hours or email them to [email protected] or mail them in to 1161 Portland St, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819. The application and release of information forms are available on our 'Available Cats' page or you can pick them up from the shelter during adoption hours.
An adoption counselor will review your application, contact 1-2 personal references and contact your veterinarian for a reference. Additionally, if you are a renter, we will contact your landlord for permission to have an animal in the household. Please allow at least 3 business days for the process to be completed.
After the review is complete, the adoption counselor will contact you, generally by email or by phone and you will be notified if your application is approved or declined. If the application is approved, you will work with the adoption counselor to work out a mutually agreed upon time and date for you to take your cat home.
Tuga is coming along so nicely. As you may recall, she was quite overweight to begin with, topping out at about 21 pounds. Add to that quite painful leg joints, and she was a rather uncomfortable girl. She continues to have some discomfort walking. But every morning she makes her way into the food prep room, lies down on her little rug, and waits somewhat patiently for breakfast. She does have a lot to say about all the goings on. She is quite the conversationalist. She loves to be petted and scritched. To date, she is down to about 14.5 pounds. She has a heated pet bed in her room, which she loves. And she is on various joint comfort meds. We are hoping soon to get her walking more often so that she can build her muscles back up. Tuga is back at the shelter, so please come by to visit her. She always loves visitors!
January 2020
Tuga came to us on Nov. 19, 2019. She is about 10 years old. She was surrendered because the house dogs were bothering her quite a bit. And to be quite frank, Tuga was grossly overweight. At one point, she weighed 21 pounds. That would be fine with a cat who has a sturdy and large frame. But Tuga actually has a small frame, with short legs and small feet. It is quite difficult for Tuga to walk and for her to clean herself. We had to put a plan in action. She went on diet food, she got brushed and combed every day. And she was encouraged to walk a bit each day. She would make her way to the food room from the office, and then plop down on her side. Her walking was so obviously uncomfortable with all that weight on those tiny feet, that we decided to make her a “Tuga Taxi”...a chair on wheels that we could roll her back to her home in the office. She loved the ride...and looked like a Queen, waving her paw at on-lookers.
Tuga had lots of tests done, blood work, xrays. Her blood work is good. But it turns out her knees and elbows are pretty badly damaged...and probably were before she gained all this weight. The obesity just exacerbates her pain in walking. She will always have these damaged knees and elbows...but with shots of Adequan, which are relatively inexpensive, her comfort level is much better and she walks around more.
She is now at Western Ave Vet Clinic where they are keeping a close eye on her, monitoring her weight, giving her her various meds, and getting her out to walk a bit. She is even beginning to play. Her favorite is a stick toy. In the future, they plan on doing some water PT with her.
One of the most charming things about Tuga is her gregarious nature. If a group of people are standing around talking, she waddles over to the central spot, plops down, and follows the conversation with her eyes, every now and then giving a meow and reaching out her paw. Tuga’s journey is going to be a fascinating one. We are very excited to get her in a more comfortable state and ready for her forever home. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her.
If you are interested in adopting Tuga (or any other cat at Kingdom Animal Shelter), please complete an adoption application and authorization for release of information form. Once completed, you can bring them to the Shelter during adoption hours or email them to [email protected] or mail them in to 1161 Portland St, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819. The application and release of information forms are available on our 'Available Cats' page or you can pick them up from the shelter during adoption hours.
An adoption counselor will review your application, contact 1-2 personal references and contact your veterinarian for a reference. Additionally, if you are a renter, we will contact your landlord for permission to have an animal in the household. Please allow at least 3 business days for the process to be completed.
After the review is complete, the adoption counselor will contact you, generally by email or by phone and you will be notified if your application is approved or declined. If the application is approved, you will work with the adoption counselor to work out a mutually agreed upon time and date for you to take your cat home.